Crosstown battle at Legends Stadium
Glacier soccer teams after first wins in city series
Glacier and Flathead high schools will renew their rivalry on the soccer pitch tonight with a doubleheader under the lights at Legends Stadium.
The Wolfpack boys and girls will both be looking for their first wins in the series, as the Braves and Bravettes swept both matches in the first year of the rivalry.
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Last year the Bravettes rolled through Glacier for two big wins behind the talents of all-state forward Meghan O'Connell. But O'Connell is now scoring goals for Carroll College, and this year's model of the Wolfpack-Bravette rivalry should feature more closely matched teams.
Flathead hasn't had a lot of time to think about the contest, as the Bravettes had a busy week. Saturday, Flathead was thumped by Helena 7-1. Fortunately, the Bravettes rebounded with an important 2-0 win versus Missoula Sentinel on Tuesday. Flathead forward Heidi Windauer provided the scoring punch for the Bravettes, scoring a pair of breakaway goals separated by less than a minute. Windauer has her share of experience in rivalry games, scoring a goal in each of Flathead's wins over Glacier last year.
Glacier has been off since Thursday when the Wolfpack beat Helena Capital for their first win of the season. Glacier was led by Maddey Frey's three goals. Sydney Sharaf also scored, and had two assists.
"It's going to be a huge game for us." said Flathead coach Scott Warnell.
"Glacier's a talented team. We just need to step up and match their intensity."
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Flathead dominated Glacier last season in both boys' matches. Both coaches, however, expect things to be more competitive when the teams take the field this evening.
"I think, looking at both teams right now, it's going to be a competitive game," said Glacier coach Ryan O'Rourke.
"We're really looking forward to this game."
O'Rourke said one of the keys for Glacier will be how successful the Wolfpack is at containing Kalispell's talented forward tandem of Cameron Clevidence and Chase Jordt. Jordt had a pair of goals against Glacier last season.
Glacier answers with its own offensive threat in forward Jared Rice. The play of goalie Kasey Haugan will also be key for the Wolfpack.
Flathead comes into the game on the heels of two hard-fought wins. The Braves beat defending state champ Helena 2-1 on Saturday, and held of Sentinel 1-0 Tuesday.
The familiarity of the players, many of whom play together on traveling teams in the spring, should make for a fun, but hard-fought contest, O'Rourke said.
That's a sentiment shared by his counterpart from Kalispell's south campus.
"It's going to be closer," said Flathead coach Chris Putzler.
"It will be a fairly evenly matched game. I expect it to be a battle."
Girls
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Records: Flathead 2-2-1,
Glacier 1-3-1
Last year: Flathead won both
contests, 7-2 and 3-1
Flathead leads series 2-0
Boys
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Records: Flathead 3-2,
Glacier 2-3
Last year: Flathead won both contests, 6-0 and 4-0
Flathead leads series 2-0